Saint Anthony the Great

St. Anthony

I was recently looking for a gift to mark a significant event in my own life. I found an amazing icon shop, Agiografia, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Here they craft, with love, icons in the Mt. Athos tradition: solid wood construction, gold leaf finish, intricate paint strokes, images of the eternal. They even offer free shipping to the US, so I gave it a shot. Well today, to my delight, after diligent Fed Ex email updates, I received a weighty package. It had 6 layers of careful wrapping, with an invoice in Greek and English, and a handwritten note of thanks and prayer. I felt like I was unwrapping something from another age. And the contents? A stunning icon of the father of monasticism, St. Anthony; it now hangs in a central place in my office. Far from being an item I will soon forget, the icon is an instrument of spiritual presence, linking past and present – and me – to the eternal.